It seemed like an impossibility just a few weeks ago when a pale and
visibly shaken Marc Savard appeared in public to speak about his
troubles with symptoms from a concussion. Yet Savard is optimistic about
being able to return to game action soon, after skating for the first
time since his injury this morning.

Savard passed an
exertion test yesterday. Savard plans to skate on his
own again tomorrow morning, then undergo a neuro-psych test in the
afternoon. If Savard passes, he will be cleared to return to practice,
although he wasn’t sure if he’d jump in with his teammates right away.

Savard
stated just two weeks ago that he was likely out for the season, and
now it seems he could be a week from being able to jump into game
action. I wouldn’t expect him to log 18 to 20 minutes a game, since he’s
barely conducted any physical activity since his injury, but just
having Savard on the ice or on the bench will be a tremendous emotional
boost for the Bruins.

He’ll still need to be cleared to play by
the training staff, even if he passes these tests so there’s no
gaurantee that Savard will return for the fourth round. So the Bruins
now have something more to play for, something more substantial than
just “proving themselves”, as they hope to get their emotional leader
back on the ice before being eliminated.